[TurboGuru]

It's official, it's not W201 & it is XUV 500
Promotion is in full swing, check this link: http://199.63.32.59:8080/browse/TMAP-204

[Parm]

the new vehicle from SSangyong to be showcased at frankfurt show this year is called XUV1!

should we expect any similarities between the XUV500 and XUV1?

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Parm

the new vehicle from SSangyong to be showcased at frankfurt show this year is called XUV1!

So XUV 500 naming is part of a deliberate strategy to confuse Americans into believing it is a Ssangyong product?

[sadnabrina]

Keep checking the official web site Mahindra XUV500 |Mahindra next generation global SUV | Code name W201

[julupani]

Originally Posted by sadnabrina

Keep checking the official web site Mahindra XUV500 |Mahindra next generation global SUV | Code name W201

About the website, after the name, this too seems a bit cheapo, starting from all that rhetoric and the crazy background music, M&M should have come up with something better for a vehicle that is going to be as high priced by Indian standards as the XUV500(I so hate the name).

By contrast the "Build Your Dream Car" campaign by Tata for the Aria was so much better. It got massive participation from the people, and helped a lot in bringing about the aspirational value of the Aria.

M&M have to do something to make the XUV500 feel really special, as it will be competing in an environment full of international manufacturer offerings, from Toyota, Skoda, VW, Hyundai, Ford etc.

[ashis89]

I was of the idea that XUV500 was another project name or code name and the real vehicle will have some REAL name. Guess i am disappointed. The name could have been better. I agree with you julupani that the website feels cheap for a premium product such as this.

[xingamazon]

I do not remember, any famous Indian brand (including the Maruti and Hyundai being very old in India), managing to break the 10L barier.

Only Hyundai has off-late kicked off the Verna campaign which is going successfully. Other than that people do not associate Indian brands (and pseudo Indian brands) with costly cars, the mindset would just not allow it.

We associate brands as either premium brands or cheap ones. And have not seen people shifting loyalties between the companies for costly cars.

Originally Posted by ashis89

I was of the idea that XUV500 was another project name or code name and the real vehicle will have some REAL name. Guess i am disappointed. The name could have been better. I agree with you julupani that the website feels cheap for a premium product such as this.

Guys,
Dont think the website will be the full time website. I mean the look and feel I am sure will change when the product is launched, what you see if just to create awareness of the name (and the way to pronounce it). Dont think this is permenant.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I do not remember, any famous Indian brand (including the Maruti and Hyundai being very old in India), managing to break the 10L barier.

Only Hyundai has off-late kicked off the Verna campaign which is going successfully. Other than that people do not associate Indian brands (and pseudo Indian brands) with costly cars, the mindset would just not allow it.

We associate brands as either premium brands or cheap ones. And have not seen people shifting loyalties between the companies for costly cars.

Guys,
Dont think the website will be the full time website. I mean the look and feel I am sure will change when the product is launched, what you see if just to create awareness of the name (and the way to pronounce it). Dont think this is permenant.

Well, both the Safari and Scorpio have quite a few models above 10L, and both do very decent numbers indeed, especially the Scorpio. So cant really say that Indian brands are not breaking into the 10L barrier.

And you are forgetting the Aria from Tata, which is the 2nd or 3rd best selling SUV/Soft Roader/Crossover in the 12-20L range.

So as long as the vehicle is good enough, there isnt that big an issue with an Indian brand.

About the website, true its only a teaser website, and not the final product website. But still, that shouldn't be an excuse to not make it good enough. At the end of the day, its still feels too cheap and chintzy for a vehicle like the XUV500 which is in India a premium offering.

A lot of the success of such a vehicle depends on the image of the vehicle. Its something a few should acquire, but many should desire. It has to have aspirational value. Something that is still lacking in the XUV500. And a website and promotions in social media today is a very very important way of achieving such an image in today's world.

[shankar.balan]

its common knowledge that it is easier for Premium Brands to first establish their premium and migrate slowly towards more value offerings. take the case of Armani which is super premium. they established themselves and created huge aspiration and desirability amongst consumers and then, to widen their target segment, came up later with Emporio Armani which is the "street" version. This enabled them to build market share and gain greater share of consumer mind and wallet.
the same top down strategy has been nicely done by Skoda and VW and Toyota (to an extent) and now all the other chaps are leaping on the bandwagon for their India strategy.
The reverse journey from value segment to premium segment is more often than not a thankless long and terribly tiring journey, with a very low rate of success. Hence our chaps are being silly if they think that they are going to reach this "holy grail" of "premium" just through pricing and a little gimmickry. At best they will see some small ish sales numbers in their high priced products. Aria is a perfect case study - tried to barge in to the premium priced segment - didnt see big numbers or high trust from consumers - promptly did a roll back and launched a lower end variant. I dont think M&M will necessarily repeat this. They are likely to be a bit more realistic in their pricing I think but it sure beats me how - because their top end Scorp is sitting right there at 15.6 lacs on road Bangalore! Unless they are willing to see some cannibalization happen, it is difficult for them to bring the XUV500 at similar pricing. Else they should consider dropping out the top end Scorp completely and focus it at the lower end of the market only, while allowing the XUV500 to play about in the Dplus segment. Maybe it might be the beginning of the end for the Scorpio if they do this but thats a necessary evil I think. Older models should be phased out or completely revamped and upgraded every now and then. Its only here that these manufacturers allow all their old models to continue to sell alongside the newer ones!

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I do not remember, any famous Indian brand (including the Maruti and Hyundai being very old in India), managing to break the 10L barier.

Only Hyundai has off-late kicked off the Verna campaign which is going successfully. Other than that people do not associate Indian brands (and pseudo Indian brands) with costly cars, the mindset would just not allow it.

We associate brands as either premium brands or cheap ones. And have not seen people shifting loyalties between the companies for costly cars.



Guys,
Dont think the website will be the full time website. I mean the look and feel I am sure will change when the product is launched, what you see if just to create awareness of the name (and the way to pronounce it). Dont think this is permenant.

[kaks15]

Originally Posted by Games Goblin

Guys, any chance the XUV 500 will look like this?

Attachment 604305

If it looks like this, it'll be a winner for sure!

Image courtsey : Vicky.in

It looks so similar to captiva and Aria, guess this design has now been accepted by our manufacturers finally.

I hope they do not make it a marketing disaster, the site , the name, why would one want to bring down the image of a beautiful product by such stupid campaigns.
BTW - The stupidest one liner I have ever read "Its gonna be so cool, it will make you look hot"

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

They are likely to be a bit more realistic in their pricing I think but it sure beats me how - because their top end Scorp is sitting right there at 15.6 lacs on road Bangalore! Unless they are willing to see some cannibalization happen, it is difficult for them to bring the XUV500 at similar pricing. Else they should consider dropping out the top end Scorp completely and focus it at the lower end of the market only, while allowing the XUV500 to play about in the Dplus segment.

I was just thinking loudly on what you mentioned. I am just taking a wild guess that the vehicle might be just like the Tata Xenon, targetted mainly at the International consumers and at thier price point.
It might have an indian soft launch, just to make sure its available as option but never targetted to us at all.

[shankar.balan]

cant be true. considering that practically every other manufacturer is barging into India with an India strategy and making all those noises about how important this market is etc. No way M&M will take this kind of step without seriously looking at the max off take from our market. And dont forget, what they've got to offer in this XUV 500 is relatively new in India but not new outside of India. End of the day outside India it will be just another inexpensivel runabout wagon with 4WD. Very run of the mill by their standards. their standards are different from ours because of what they've been used to and the kind of stuff thats available there - also because of the laws of the land which puts safety etc very high on the priority list unlike here.

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I was just thinking loudly on what you mentioned. I am just taking a wild guess that the vehicle might be just like the Tata Xenon, targetted mainly at the International consumers and at thier price point.
It might have an indian soft launch, just to make sure its available as option but never targetted to us at all.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I do not remember, any famous Indian brand (including the Maruti and Hyundai being very old in India), managing to break the 10L barier.

The problem is that we associate a snob value with a brand according to its initial products.
Maruti is seen as a 'small car' maker and hence people are unwilling to invest in higher segment cars from it(case here- GV and Kizashi). Both these vehicle aren't much inferior than the Hondas and are priced lower but still fail to sell as much. Similar is the case with Hyundai-Sonata,Elantra,Terracan,etc.

Both TATA and Mahindra are UV makers. So people were aghast when Aria was launched at 18L OTR. They refused to believe even if it had enough goodies in its kitty. I fear a similar reaction to XUV500 though MM has made a good point to announce the price beforehand,no shock therapy at launch time.

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Guys,
Dont think the website will be the full time website. I mean the look and feel I am sure will change when the product is launched, what you see if just to create awareness of the name (and the way to pronounce it). Dont think this is permenant.

I just felt that the website could have been better for launching a high-end product. Initial impression is very important to retain interest in the new product.

[shankar.balan]

fact is that anywhere else in the world Suzuki, Toyota, Honda etc are pretty much considered at par with each other. Hyundai, Kia and the other Koreans are considered slightly lower. Ssangyong etc are considered the "poor man's" choice.

it is in this "market of markets" that Toyota and Honda are able to command a premium over Suzuki and Hyundai is pretty much considered on par with Suzuki.

Unfortunately neither M&M nor Tata cars in general are as well finished and well appointed and as reliable overall as the Hyundai vehicles. This does tend to influence people when they are asked to pay more than say 12 lacs or so, for an M&M/ Tata SUV or MUV.

Im not taking away from the efforts they've put in. They certainly deserve great appreciation for that. However, in my opinion they do tend to compromise here and there on ancillaries and so on and their fit, finish and finesse does have a long way to go. I would also tend to view their electronics a little askance because lets face it, we arent yet as good as the Koreans are in the electronics space and hence chances of things going "phut" are quite high in these new fangled electronics loaded vehicles from M&M and Tata.

[quote=ashis89;2494983]le are unwilling to invest in higher segment cars from it(case here- GV and Kizashi). Both these vehicle aren't much inferior than the Hondas and are priced lower but still fail to sell as much. Similar is the case with Hyundai-Sonata,Elantra,Terracan,etc.
.

[Zed]

The Brand perception phenomenon is truly interesting. M&M has taken a 'one step at a time' approach if one look at the evolution from their rudimentary jeeps to the current Scorpios & Xylo. With every step they have shot for an improved vehicle. Weather they have been successful is worthy of a separate debate. But I do believe that every vehicle they have launched ( Not considering their CV's) has been an improvement over the last product. In terms of aspirational value the Bolero and the Scorpio have had success, the former in the smaller towns \ villages and the later in the larger towns and metros, if I may generalize. The XUV certainly has the potential to be an aspirational product in India and some of the less developed global markets (no disrespect, just being factual) such as Africa & some of the east European \ South American countries. In advanced markets it can best be a cost effective alternative to aspirational products - as mentioned earlier by Sankar.balan. A vehicle that comes to mind is the Dacia Duster playing that role in central \ western Europe.
In contrast Tata has a history of launching truly aspirational 'lifestyle' products like the Sierra that many of us acknowledge as being way ahead of its time (as a product, but not in terms of reliability & A.S.S ). And the Safari. But in parallel they also had the Sumo, Indica and more recently the nano - more of mass market products with limited 'aspirational' value. Long story short - Neither of these two approaches guarantees a fool proof strategy of getting to that 'Level' that all of us are alluding to. But if I were to pick one of the two approaches - id pick M&Ms. However, the story has to be coupled with differentiation in the customer experience at the touch points like dealerships, A.S.S - for a foot hold into the higher rungs of the SUV segment. A better class of vehicle sold and serviced by dealerships dealing with mass products will certainly take away some of the aspirational sheen.